Partners
by Kate Taylor
Summary: EO oneshot. Olivia's not her mother... can Elliot make her see it too?


Disclaimer: The characters in this story are not my own but are the property of Wolf Productions and NBC.

Rated: G

Summery: EO angst one shot. Olivia's not her mother... can Elliot make her see it too?

**--- Partners ---**

It was 3:00 am and the night sky seemed darker than usual as a cold wind blew gently through the city. Olivia Benson shuddered, pulling her coat tighter around herself as she continued to stand there at his door. She had no idea how long she'd been standing there or why it was that she found herself here, the only thing she was sure of was that she couldn't turn back. She needed someone... she needed him.

After a moment, she knocked on his door. After waiting several moments, she wondered if it had been such a good idea to come here after all but just as she began to turn away, the door opened just then.

"Liv?" His voice, a mixture of surprise and exhaustion, caused her to turn back.

"Elliot... I..." She began but suddenly there were no words to say. She brought her hand up to her face and winced at her own touch praying that Elliot wouldn't notice. A slight buzz still remained with her after having a few glasses of wine. She wasn't sure exactly how many.

"What's wrong?" Her partner's concerned voice brought her out of thought and she turned her gaze on him once again. He looked so tired, it was 3:00 am, and she shouldn't have come here.

"It was my fault, Elliot." She whispered as a sudden chill came over her and she shuddered.

"Liv... what... what's your fault?" Then he noticed the fact that she was pulling her coat tighter around herself and he stepped aside and motioned for her to come in.

She accepted the offer but made no effort to explain her previous statement any further. Sitting down on his couch, she remained silent as he turned on a nearby light and sat next to her. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her face in the light. Dark bruising covered the right side of her face and her eyes studied the floor as she refused to look him in the face.

"Liv, what happened?" He managed to ask though the moment the question left his mouth, he remembered the fact that she'd had a date planned with someone she'd been seeing for some time now.

"Brian...?" He asked and she stopped studying the floor to look at him.

"I was drinking," She began, "I don't know why or how...it's all so foggy..." She paused for a moment. "I had too much, Elliot. It was my fault." She nervously brushed her hair away from her face and tucked it behind her ear.

He took her hands in his and was surprised by how icy they felt.

"No," His voice was so soft, so unlike Brian's. "No matter what happened tonight, Liv, I can't imagine that you'd ever deserve this."

"But you don't know, Elliot. You don't know how I can be sometimes and you don't know who I saw when I looked in the mirror tonight..." Her eyes had now welled up with tears that she still stubbornly refused to shed. "Elliot... I saw my mother."

He moved closer to her still holding her hands in his own. Though he was the only person she'd ever allowed herself to be vulnerable around, he'd never seen her quite like this and it tore at him just as much as it was tearing at her.

"You're not your mother, don't ever think that." He gently chided. "Liv, we've seen each other at our worst, we've had our share of arguments but despite all of that, I know the strong, independent, caring woman that you are. You connect with the victims better than anyone I know and you're a damn good cop. You're mother gave up on the world, you're changing it."

A single tear streamed down her face and she nodded her head. It was her mother's faults that had made her resolve to avoid them. Despite the fact that her mother drank to drown the sorrow away, Olivia had know that it had only served to magnify it. Alcohol didn't numb the pain, it made it stronger. Her eyes glistened with tears as she smiled weakly at him.

"How is it that you know me so well?"

He tried to think of the right answer but the one he came up with was something he was still confused about himself. He didn't understand why he'd been looking at her differently lately. Why it was that she now meant more to him than ever before. Why her very hands in his, sent chills through him and it wasn't because she'd just come out of the cold.

"We're partners, Liv." He smiled at her as he squeezed her hands in reassurance. Her gaze never left his.

"Partners for life." She whispered as she laid her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her. And to the sound of his heart beat, she fell into a peaceful sleep.

Kate Taylor

March, 2006


End file.
